UK accused setting a ''poverty trap'' for African farmers

THE
United Kingdom, UK, is currently being accused of setting up
a''poverty trap'' for African farmers.

The Africa
Centre for Biosafety, ACB, supported by Food &
WaterEurope and the Gaia Foundation, on Friday, wrote to
UK Ministers forInternational Development, Business and
Environment asking forevidence for the basis of UK
overseas aid policy.

ACB recently published a searing
critique of the Alliance for a GreenRevolution in Africa
(known as AGRA, supported by agribusinessmultinationals
and the Gates Foundation). The study finds the schemeis
ultimately not about developing lasting solutions to hunger,
butimposing a cash economy on African agriculture that
will inevitablyresult in farmers becoming dependent on
the multinational corporationsprofiting from the
hardship that will follow.

The AGRA
model uses free inputs to develop monopoly control over
outputsand expects farmers to pay for seeds they
previously shared andtraded, and played a major part in
developing over thousands of years.

AGRA’s model creates
the foundation for the expansion ofbiotechnology and
synthetic agricultural inputs, a combination thathas
proved disastrous in other parts of the world -- notably
amongIndian cotton farmers, whose families are still
suffering from thetens of thousands of suicides that
have resulted from the debtsincurred.

Farmers should
keep their focus on feeding people, and experienceshows
they can best do this by retaining control over their
ownresources, not permitting profit-driven
multinationals to take overand concentrate power away
from those doing the work.

ACB Director Mariam Mayet
said:

“We’ve seen this model too many times already,
and the outcomeisn’t good. Western economies are
suffering hugely from the problemsindebtedness causes.
If the UK is serious about supporting the smallfarmers
in Africa who are feeding the majority of the people, it
needsto explain how handcuffing farmers to debt and an
agrochemicaltreadmill is going to be more effective than
low cost, provenapproaches of looking after the soil and
maintaining seed systems.

“The UK would do far more good
if it was honest about the impactsIMF-imposed structural
adjustment policy has already had in Africa andputting
them right rather than ramping up the damage. Forcing
wholecountries into a cycle of providing agricultural
commodities forothers in order to buy inputs to produce
yet more exports for theprofit of external corporations
smacks of recolonisation. It’s avery dangerous game to
play.”

Liz Hosken of the Gaia Foundation
adds:

"African farmers urgently need to regain control
over theirtraditional seed diversity, which enables them
to adapt to climateinstability and spread their risks.
AGRA’s strategy, a legacy of theso-called “Green
Revolution”, creates farmer dependence on a
fewcorporate-controlled seeds and agro-chemicals, which
fail to meetfarmers' diverse nutritional and
agricultural requirements. There isnothing 'green' about
this approach. Concentrating power over Africa'sfood
supply in the hands of a few corporations defies all
logic."

Food & Water Europe Food Policy Advisor Eve
Mitchell said:

“AGRA is all about making money, but
Africans will never see thebulk of it. Among other
things, it is not acceptable that UK taxpayermoney is
being used to turn public genetic resources and
traditionalknowledge in Africa into privatised crops,
especially in conditions ofstructural increases in food
and agricultural input costs. Exportingagricultural
technofixes might seem like a way to reap future
profitsand put a sticking plaster on the UK economy for
a while, but this isat the expense of food producers and
consumers in Africa. The UKGovernment claims all its
policy is based on evidence. We’d like tosee the basis
for the decision to back AGRA''.
ENDS

Nelson Mandela, then Deputy President of the African National Congress of South Africa, raises his fist in the air while addressing the Special Committee Against Apartheid in the General Assembly Hall. UN Photo/P. Sudhakaran More>>